Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Rough night reminder
Shortcomings clear in this loss
MIAMI — The night began with Dion Waiters sitting in the locker room, staring at his injured ankle, and saying he hopes to make it back before the end of the regular season. That wasn’t good news.
It grew worse, too. Like: Portland 115, Heat 104 worse. Like: Out-of-the-playoff picture worse.
On nights like Sunday, when the Heat can’t stop a star, when they can’t sink a 3-point shot of their own, when Goran Dragic is off his game and Hassan Whiteside in foul trouble, it underscores something that needs to be said about this season.
It really borders on the remarkable, doesn’t it? Because that’s the word this season is edging toward as it sits on the edge of the playoffs, right? Remarkable?
Sunday showed why. They got run off the court by the end of the game. They had no one to stop Portland guard Damian Lillard, an anointed star who played like one in scoring 49 points.
But then there are two
universal truths about the NBA everyone accepts: 1. You need stars to win. 2. Coaching only matters so much.
So how did the Heat enter Sunday with the best record in the NBA the last two months? Do they have stars? They have some good players like Whiteside, Dragic and, though injured now, Waiters.
But were any voted to the All-Star Game this year? Or last year? Isn’t that the first line for a pedestrian NBA star to cross?
Lillard showed everyone what a star looks like. He was unstoppable. He lit up whoever came at him. After playing Saturday in Atlanta, on the final game of a fivegame road trip, Lillard had as many 3-point shots (nine) as the Heat and his 12 made free throws were one less than the Heat.
This is where losing Waiters hurts. He’d answer some of those runs. He’d be a defensive option on him. It’s all good and expected to say the Heat need Dragic and Whiteside to assume more without Waiters.
But aren’t they already taking big steps forward this year? How much more can they realistically do?
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra notably said the Lillard performance was his fault for not adjusting the defense.
“That’s on me,” he said. “There should’ve been an adjustment after he scored (a half-laugh) … 40 points. That’s squarely on me.”
Maybe so. But that again tells you how his role is front and center this Heat season. Don’t minimize his previous eight years as Heat coach by suggesting this is some kind of breakout year for him.
Just last year he ripped up the blueprint when Chris Bosh went out in February and helped the Heat to coming within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals. This year, it’s obvious to see the season adjustment after the 11-30 start: They’re living (and dying Sunday) on 3-point shots.
Pat Riley used to demand his players make opponents, “feel your presence.” He often meant physically. Body up. Measure their manhood. Those Heat teams often led the league in charges drawn. Udonis Haslem, by himself, has two seasons of 28.
This Heat has taken 22 charges this season. It ranks 25th in the league. But it makes its presence felt by pushing the ball upcourt, by running teams silly and, beyond anything, by making 3-point shorts.
“I think they have opened the floor up a lot,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said of the Heat offense. “The obvious thing is their offense. Because of that their defense has improved when the other team is taking it out of the net.”
They were 9 for 31 on 3-point shots Sunday. Waiters’ loss was a part of that. He doesn’t just shoot well. He drives the ball to open up teammates’ shots. Can they Heat come back without him? A season with a high degree of difficulty just got higher.
“We don’t get deflated,” Heat forward James Johnson said after the loss.
They’ve proved that by staying afloat this season. The question now becomes if they’re good enough without Waiters to get where they dream.